South Sudan: Displaced people endured the ripple effects of border tensions
Lucy Kade was going about her usual chores at home when the sound of heavy gunfire close to her village of Nyaingamuda in the vicinity of the border between South Sudan and Uganda, suddenly jolted her. Simmering tensions over this border region had escalated into armed clashes, with civilians caught up in the middle.
Kade and hundreds of her fellow villagers had to flee quickly for their lives – nobody had time to collect anything. In the chaos that followed the shooting, Kade got separated from her children and grandchildren who were at school.
Lucky Kade receiving essential items from the ICRC.
The journey was long and perilous, according to Kade. “For two days, I was sleeping in the forest without food, water or shelter,” she said. Sudden displacements such as those Kade and her fellow villagers experienced often comes with disruption of basic services, including education and health. Yet for Kade, the pain of being separated from her children and grandchildren was worse than the discomfort of sleeping rough in the forests with no food, water or shelter. She could not help remembering the tragic events of that night.
“We all ran in different directions to save our lives. I personally had no idea where they ran. By the following morning, there was still no information on their whereabouts. It was very frustrating,” she said amid sobs. “I searched for them among other children, but I could not see them,” Kade noted.
Most of the people in Kade’s village ended up in relative safety of Bori in Kajo Keji county of Central Equatoria State in South Sudan. It was here, that through strong determination and strenuous efforts, she was eventually reunited with members of the family she had lost contact with. "Life wasn't easy without my children and grandchildren,” said Kade, relieved that the family was together again.
This mother and grandmother was among the 16,746 people displaced due to the recent tensions along the border between South Sudan and Uganda that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supported with food and essential household items early September 2025. The ICRC responding to the enormous needs of the population by providing food and essential household items. It also restored access to potable water for 54,000 people, including host communities.
